ANGRY motorists hit by big bills for blown tyres have piled up the pressure on Surrey County Council to do “proper” repairs to fix a plague of potholes.

Frustrated residents flagged up more horrors following last week’s report in the Herald.

Woolmer Hill School head Clare Talbot described parts of Woolmer Hill Road as “a danger” to drivers and pedestrians and called on Surrey to prioritise repairs “for the safety of our students and the school community”.

Surrey highways portfolio holder Councillor Matt Furniss is now coming to Haslemere to see the worst examples for himself.

Businesses have protested that “shoddy” resurfacing repairs are blighting Wey Hill.

Baker & Sons soft furnishings store has repeatedly called over the last five years for a permanent fix to a sunken drain cover on the busy main thoroughfare outside the shop.

Staff member Sarah Pearse said: “It’s my pet hate. I email Haslemere county councillor Nikki Barton and she is always very responsive, but Surrey’s contractors are not providing a proper service.

“They just chuck stuff into it and are getting paid to come back every six months. The problem is the drain is full of concrete, so water gathers and doesn’t drain away.

“It got really bad earlier this month before they did a temporary fix a couple of days ago. When traffic drives over the drain cover, it bangs all day long.

“This time, the contractors also left the loose rubble they cleared out behind on the pavement.”

As reported last week, Cllr Barton has raised resurfacing concerns directly with Surrey’s highways portfolio holder Cllr Matt Furniss. She has asked him to flag them up with Surrey contractor Kier, so they can be part of the new contract.

Mrs Barton told Mr Furniss: “Residents continue to raise issues with me – in particular, the quality of the pothole repairs; clusters of holes are not dealt with together; residents report holes online and receive an automated response that the holes don’t meet the criteria for repair even when the holes are very hazardous; large hazardous holes take days or weeks to repair despite being on main roads.”

Mrs Barton said the highways team did their best with limited resources, noting drainage issues exacerbate pothole formation – but Surrey has only one jetter vehicle equipped to clear out and diagnose drainage problems.

She copied Mr Furniss into objections on Twitter prompted by last week’s Herald coverage.

One Haslemere resident tweeted: “Repairs are shoddy at best, last sometimes a day. There needs to be independent assessment of work carried out, if sub-standard, then contractors invoice disputed.”

Mr Furniss tweeted: “We cannot do a permanent repair when it is wet as the material does not bind and will come away. In these cases a temporary make safe is done for a few days until a permanent repair can be made when dryer.

“It is about investment and we are doubling what has been the norm for quite a few years. This means that there will be more preventative surfacing and more resurfacing happening.”

• Report potholes at www.surreycc.gov.uk and follow links.